Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership

What People are Saying about Kalamazoo College's Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership

Donald R. Parfet, Chair, Kalamazoo College Board of Trustees

This college has an unwavering commitment to educating leaders, educating global leaders,
educating leaders to assume leadership in very enlightened ways that no other institution can
approach. What the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership will offer is a deeper, more
disciplined approach to explore social justice and furthermore, to create an enlightened approach to
disseminating social justice after the Kalamazoo College experience. I couldn't be more excited
about what this Center has to offer, not just for our students but for our society.

Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran, President, Kalamazoo College

I think this is an incredibly exciting time for Kalamazoo College. The Arcus Center for Social Justice
Leadership will provide us with an opportunity to enhance our visibility, for us to attract some of the
most curious students who really want to make a difference in the world, who want to think deeply
about the dimensions of leadership, the responsibilities of leadership, and also in the words of
[former Kalamazoo College President] Alan Hoben, how to take the discipline and the spirit of a
scholar to make the world somewhat better.' This gift will enable us to take that opportunity to a
higher level.

Eric Staab, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, Kalamazoo College

Kalamazoo College for 175 years has been providing excellent educational opportunities. What I find
very satisfying about the Arcus Center, is that it doesn't feel like it's an add-on to the institution, it
feels like it's part of the puzzle and will fit very nicely into the College's mission and the K-Plan. At
Kalamazoo College, we do more in four years so students can do more in a lifetime. The Arcus
Center provides yet another opportunity for students to do more. That's thrilling. That's exciting.

The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership advances social justice and human rights by
nurturing, developing, supporting, educating leaders at all stages of practice – undergraduates to
veteran leaders. It starts with the K-Plan. I think that combination of really serious scholarly rigor
and applied learning is the core of it. It's a very dynamic process. Whether it's impacting a course, a
service-leaning program, a program that the chaplain's office wants to put together, it's a very
creative way of thinking about education. And there's not a sense of "us up on the hill dictating
something." Community partners are forming the questions and forming the agendas for 'K' students
in terms of what they're going to do in the field.

The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership is a great fit for Kalamazoo College because 'K'
College is already known for innovative, leading initiatives. The Center is beginning already to take a
leadership role in higher ed. Just by our existence, we are already intriguing to other institutions and
people in other institutions who are asking: 'What are you doing there in Kalamazoo? What are you
doing with this center for social justice leadership?' I've gotten questions like that from people all
over the country, and as I explain what we're doing, they're like, 'Wow, that is something!'

John C. Dugas, Senior Arcus Chair, Social Justice Leadership in Political Science

What makes the Arcus Center unique is precisely the fact that it contributes a focus on leadership. It's
going to be something years from now when we'll be able to look back and say, 'Ah, these are the
leaders today that are working to enact real, lasting change in our communities, in our country and
around the globe, and they were influenced precisely because of the experience that they had at the
Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.'

What is "enlightened leadership" if not, at least in part, leadership grounded in social justice? In
many ways, the kind of education offered at Kalamazoo College is very consistent with this move to a
more explicit focus on social justice. Our commitment to international/intercultural learning, our rich
tradition of and commitment to integrating experiential learning into our educational programs, and
the value we place on research and teaching at the point of praxis all set us up to be innovative
trailblazers in this area within higher education.

Mariah Hennen '15, Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership Scholar

Obviously Kalamazoo College has a great academic program, but I think the Arcus Center adds
another aspect of what it means to be a leader and how to create leaders. I think the Arcus Center
and my social justice work here will definitely fit into my plan. I would like to work in a
nongovernmental organization eventually after college and I think that a lot of leadership roles I'll
have through the Arcus Center, and a lot of the work that I'll have done with community members,
will really have prepared me to work with the larger community outside of Kalamazoo.

The Arcus Center definitely does not put a definition of social justice on you. They're not pushing any
particular wording of what social justice is, and I think that absolutely, definitely they are working
with students, K community members, and student leaders to facilitate their growth, envisioning that
just world that they'd like to work toward. And not just envisioning it, but also developing the tools to
make it happen, and developing, really, the optimism.

It takes more than just money to move issues of social justice. It also takes people. I believe the Arcus
Center for Social Justice is an asset to the greater Kalamazoo community on two fronts. The first is
we have a place within an academic institution that is far reaching. It brings in leaders, it brings in
speakers. But it also aims to engage leaders locally. The second is working with the College's Mary
Jane Stryker Center for Service Learning. That combination for me and my work has been dynamic.

The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership is a wonderful expression of where Kalamazoo
College's strengths are as an organization and elevating it to the next level, building on our long
history of inviting people to this campus who believe in being globally aware citizens and preparing
people to make positive change in their communities. And I think the Arcus Center is going to help
draw more resources into the community. I'm very excited about what's going to emerge from this.

David Stern, Executive Director, Equal Justice Works

Today, in a society with so much inequity and blood boiling injustice, we need social justice leaders
who are able to fight very complex battles. The good news is that the pipeline is full to overflowing
with potential social justice leaders who are ready to tackle these problems, but they need the
training and support to be effective. The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership is right on time.

We need social justice leaders who are able to look at the big picture and fight very complex battles.
We need human rights defenders who are active can create change at multiple levels--family,
community, nationally and globally. In its approach and its scope, the Arcus Center for Social Justice
Leadership is right on time.

Our country is at a critical crossroads. What happens over the next two generations will be key to the health and well-being of our society and unlocking the answers to many of the toughest challenges of our time. The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership will play an essential role in preparing the next generation of public service leaders who will use research, advocacy, and action to create change large enough to alter the life chances and outcomes of the most vulnerable in our society. The Arcus Center will be an incubator for inspired praxis and thought. It will harness and nurture the best ideas and thinking for how to solve our most pressing social problems—from poverty to racial injustice—and unleash them for others to engage and to take up in real ways.